Fortification of pet food by the inclusion of micronutrients such antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, carotenoids, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, nutraceutical ingredients and nutrient supplements is an efficient way to sustain and improve the health of companion animals. However, the conventional ways of incorporating micronutrients in dry pet foods do not manifest any indication to either the pets or their owners regarding the physical presence of the micronutrients. Thus, the only indication that such nutrients are present is the label statement appearing on the package.
Pet foods containing separate nutrient-containing particles are known. However, physical segregation or selective consumption between different kinds of kibbles may cause uneven intake of the fortified nutrients. Such externally incorporated nutrient bits are mixed among regular dry pet food kibbles and may tend to segregate from the others upon transportation due to density and/or conformation differences, in addition, some pets may have selective consumption of one kind of kibble. Both situations may lead to inconsistent intakes of the fortified nutrients between the consumptions of food. Thus there is a need for novel pet food compositions and for methods of their manufacture that overcome these problems. This invention is directed to these, as well as other important ends.